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Don’t tread on me

The ascendancy of libertarianism in Silicon Valley

The average American looks to the West and assumes that Northern California is populated by roving packs of Prius-driving, weed-farming, granola-eating, deodorant-despising, left-wing Marxists.

For certain pockets of the Bay Area—Berkeley comes to mind—this is probably a fairly accurate description. But when it comes to Silicon Valley and the tech community more broadly, the political sentiment here is not so easily put into a left-right, Republican-Democrat box.

In fact, over the last few years, I’ve seen something much different happening here—a rising tide of libertarianism in a community that is increasingly taking on the mantle of ethical capitalism, free-markets, civil liberties, limited government and personal responsibility.

Silicon Valley’s political reawakening and realignment away from the two major parties towards a philosophy of economic liberty and social tolerance has come not a moment too soon, at a time when crony capitalism is at an all time high (Solyndra), faith in government is at an all time low (11% Congressional approval rating), the economy is in a sluggish state of perpetual malaise (2% GDP growth) and civil liberties are being eliminated at the stroke of politicians’ pens (NSA Prism).

My name is Chris Murman, thanks for visiting my space.
As an IT consultant, I am constantly in search of ways to make the work we do better. This means bringing a lean focus to the products we make, a holistic approach to agile business processes, or an intense focus on the technologies of tomorrow.
This blog is a collection of all thoughts related to those, and many more endeavors. Come participate in the conversation with me!